Jenn Cordova Design

Jenn Cordova Design Jenn Cordova Design creates memorable and impactful brands for entrepreneurs across the globe.

09/14/2026

A great CPG brand doesn’t stop at a great logo.

It’s a visual system where typography, color, packaging structure, graphics, patterns, illustration, and messaging all work together to build recognition.

Because the real test isn’t whether your brand looks good in a presentation. It’s whether it can hold its own at 2 inches tall on a crowded shelf, fluorescent lights, surrounded by competitors, with about three seconds to earn attention.

Building or repositioning a CPG brand? Let’s make sure yours is built to be recognized. DM me and let’s chat ☕️✨


Founders: your packaging could be working against you 👀In 2024, Tropicana replaced its iconic 52 oz carafe with a slimme...
09/10/2026

Founders: your packaging could be working against you 👀

In 2024, Tropicana replaced its iconic 52 oz carafe with a slimmer 46 oz bottle. The new bottle had plenty of practical advantages. It was easier to pour and store, used less plastic in the cap, and came with a lower suggested retail price.

Then, by October, year-over-year sales were down 19%.

Was the bottle solely responsible? No. But the change exposes something every food & beverage founder needs to understand: your packaging isn’t just holding your product. It’s holding brand equity.

Shape, structure, color, proportion, materials... those little details customers recognize without consciously realizing they recognize them? They matter. When you change too many at once, you risk making loyal customers search for a brand they used to spot instantly.

A redesign shouldn’t just ask, “How can we make this better?” It should also ask, “What have we already earned that we can’t afford to lose?”

Swipe through for 5 lessons food & beverage founders can take from Tropicana’s 2024 packaging change. ➡️

Planning a redesign or getting ready for retail? DM me. Let’s make sure your packaging is building equity, not erasing it.

09/08/2026

Eight years of food & beverage packaging strategy. Condensed into 60 seconds. Ready?⏱️

Because great packaging isn’t just about making something look damn good.

It’s knowing how to stand out without looking out of place. What your customer needs to understand in three seconds. Which message deserves top billing. How the package reads from six feet away. And how to convince both the person shopping and the retail buyer deciding whether you get shelf space in the first place.

There are a LOT of strategic decisions hiding inside that little box, pouch, bottle or can.

And making them before you go into production is considerably cheaper than figuring them out afterward

Save this one for your next packaging project. And if you’d rather have someone who thinks about all of this obsessively do it with you, DM me. My 2026 books are filling up.

Food & beverage founders: your packaging has two customers. And most brands are only designing for one of them 😬🤯Of cour...
09/04/2026

Food & beverage founders: your packaging has two customers. And most brands are only designing for one of them 😬🤯

Of course your consumer matters.

They need to spot your product, understand what it is, want it, and choose it over the 37 other things screaming for their attention from the shelf.

But there’s another customer your packaging has to convince before your consumer ever gets that chance: the retail buyer.

And they’re looking at your package through a very different lens.

Does this brand understand its audience? Does the product clearly differentiate itself? Does the packaging feel retail-ready? Can this system scale? And ultimately...

Is this thing going to MOVE?

That’s why great CPG packaging has two jobs:
To the consumer: Pick me.
To the buyer: Bet on me.

Pretty packaging might get compliments. Strategy-led packaging gets shelf space.

If you’re preparing to launch, pitch retailers, or expand your retail footprint, DM me. Let’s make sure your packaging is selling both the product AND the opportunity.


A $23.8 MILLION packaging lesson hiding in the freezer aisle🍨👀Van Leeuwen just won a major trade dress case against Rebe...
09/01/2026

A $23.8 MILLION packaging lesson hiding in the freezer aisle🍨👀

Van Leeuwen just won a major trade dress case against Rebel Creamery after arguing that Rebel’s packaging was too similar to the distinctive look Van Leeuwen had built. Less than a month after the judgment, Rebel filed for Chapter 11 while appealing the decision.

And while the lawsuit makes for a juicy headline, the real story for food & beverage founders is what happened long before anyone walked into a courtroom.

Your competitors aren’t just something to toss onto a moodboard. Competitive research should tell you what visual territory has already been claimed, what’s becoming overused, and most importantly, where your brand has an opportunity to look unmistakably different.

Because no single color, typeface, or design element has to be an exact copy for the finished package to feel a little too familiar.

This is also a pretty spectacular reminder that investing in original, strategy-led branding isn’t about making prettier stuff.

It’s about building ownable stuff.

👉 Stuff customers recognize.
👉 Stuff retailers remember.
👉 Stuff competitors can’t easily replicate.
👉 And, eventually, stuff that may become a valuable asset your business can actually protect.

Swipe through for 5 founder takeaways from the $23.8M Van Leeuwen vs. Rebel battle➡️

And if you’re planning a brand, rebrand, or packaging project for 2026, my books are filling up. DM me and let’s build something unmistakably yours.

08/26/2026

Dolly never needed a rebrand. ✨

For decades, you knew exactly who Dolly Parton was before she ever opened her mouth. Big hair. Rhinestones. Southern charm. Quick wit. Bigger heart.

But what made her brand so powerful wasn’t the blonde hair or the sequins. It was consistency.

She knew exactly who she was, who she was speaking to, and what she stood for. She evolved without constantly reinventing herself. And she never watered herself down trying to appeal to everyone.

That’s something I wish more brands understood.
Your brand doesn’t need to chase every trend, mimic what’s selling, or shapeshift every six months to stay relevant.

It needs a strong enough foundation that people recognize you, remember you, and most importantly, trust you.

The visuals might get someone’s attention.
But the consistency between what you say, what you show, and what you actually deliver is what builds a brand people believe in.

Dolly understood that better than most.

And that’s the kind of staying power I want to build into every brand I create. 🤍

A restaurant with great food can still disappear into a sea of sameness 👀That was the real challenge we wanted to avoid ...
08/24/2026

A restaurant with great food can still disappear into a sea of sameness 👀

That was the real challenge we wanted to avoid with Spud & Butter.

The family behind the concept came to me with more than 50 years of hospitality experience and a clear vision for what they wanted to serve: fresh, handcrafted comfort food with the warmth of a traditional restaurant and the convenience today’s customers expect.

👉 What they didn’t need was another trendy Southern restaurant brand.

They needed a brand that could take everything they’d learned over five decades and turn it into something fresh, memorable, and built for where the business was going next.

So before I designed a single logo, we got strategic.

We took a deep-dive into strategy and defined their customers, competitive landscape, positioning, personality, mission, values, voice, and long-term growth plans. We talked about the restaurant they were opening and the business they wanted Spud & Butter to become: catering, bottled teas, additional locations, packaged products, and eventually expansion beyond Middle Tennessee.

Then we built the identity around that strategy.

The hand-drawn logo, warm earthy palette, custom illustrations, signage, takeout packaging, menus, merchandise, to-go packaging… none of it exists just to look cute. It exists to make Spud & Butter unmistakably Spud & Butter.

Because the best restaurant brands aren’t designed for opening day.

They’re designed for what happens after it. 🥔✨

Opening a restaurant or building a food & beverage brand that needs to launch with a bang and have room to grow? DM me and let’s talk strategy!

I have a bunch of new followers, so let me take a moment to reintroduce myself 👋🏼I’m Jenn. I turn really good food + bev...
08/05/2026

I have a bunch of new followers, so let me take a moment to reintroduce myself 👋🏼

I’m Jenn. I turn really good food + beverage ideas into brands people can’t walk past.

Strategy first. Design with a purpose. Packaging that earns its shelf space. And yes, I have a lot of opinions about all three!

Got something good cooking? Let’s talk 👊🏼

Your food and beverage brand deserves a strategy and visual identity that gets noticed, earns trust, and drives sales 🎯✨...
07/28/2026

Your food and beverage brand deserves a strategy and visual identity that gets noticed, earns trust, and drives sales 🎯✨

I just refreshed my lookbook with recent branding and packaging work I created for ambitious food and drink founders, from retail products to restaurants.

If you’re ready to build a brand that stands out, sells more, and scales with confidence, let’s talk! Drop me a DM.

Address

Nashville, TN
37209

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Jenn Cordova Design posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category